Canada: Quebec's New Immigration System favours Skill over the Que

The Canadian province of Quebec is following suite with other provinces and territories and have booted their old ‘first come first served’ immigration system in favour of finding skilled applicants for vacant positions.

When the new immigration policy comes into effect Quebec’s immigration department will focus on matching skilled workers to work shortages. This means that the province will now also employ an Expression of Interest (EOI) system which will fast track skilled workers will now be fast-tracked to address Quebec’s labour shortage. This effectively means that the old system of waiting as long as two years to be drawn from a pool of applicants comes to an end and applicants will instead be sifted and invited to apply for their visa based on what they have to offer the province.

“We will have a new system which will now allow us to pre-screen people who want to come and will evaluate these people based on what their work experience is, and what they bring to the table in terms of work experience and the system will allow us to match these people with our needs,” explained Quebec’s Immigration Minister David Heurtel.

The new system means that, for example, if there is a need for engineers in Alma candidates would be found in a matter of months, instead of two or three years as it stands right now.

There are currently about 100,000 jobs that need to be filled in the province, an issue employers have been sounding the alarm on for several years.

The Canadian Federation of Small businesses said the new policy is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done.

All applicants must still meet the province and Canada’s minimum entry requirements which considers age, language ability, education and experience.

Quebec currently accepts many more highly educated immigrants than those with a high-school-level education, which is what small businesses in the regions are looking for right now.

The goal in the future, he said, has to involve overhauling this grading system, as well as and cutting red tape for employers trying to recruit abroad, because it is currently costing Quebec's economy.

Quebec says it has a 100,000 job vacancies which has resulted in entrepreneurs are refusing contracts. According to the province entrepreneurs are putting investments on ice and this means that growth opportunities for province are not being realized.